Credit Repair Questions & Answers

Credit Repair Mistakes

I was with a different credit repair company for six months and my scores have not moved. I do not have any open accounts, could that be the problem?

Effective credit repair requires more than just sending dispute letters to the credit bureaus. Your credit scores will not automatically rise when derogatory information is removed from your report. Read More »

I got two new credit cards and my scores fell. I am making the payments on time. What is the problem?

There is no doubt that new credit cards are absolutely essential to your credit repair success. Without the new cards your credit scores will flounder. And those two new cards are capable of rocketing your scores up, perhaps more than 100 points. Read More »

There are quite a few derogatory items that I do not recognize, but it is possible that they are correct. Should we challenge them in our credit repair program?

We advise our credit repair clients to give themselves the benefit of the doubt when selecting items to challenge on their credit reports. The credit reporting system is massive and prone to error. Read More »

I cut up and cancelled my credit cards before starting credit repair, was that a mistake?

Yes and no. There is certainly nothing wrong with simplifying your life. And there are many wonderful benefits to eliminating debt. But from a credit repair perspective you would have been better off holding on to two or three credit cards even if you have decided to live as debt free as possible. Read More »

I got a bunch of collection letters a few months ago; can your credit repair services help me with these?

We include debt validation as part of our credit repair services. Debt validation should be done within 30 days of the receipt of a collection letter. Your old collection letters, as they are, are not likely to produce a result. But this does not mean that debt validation cannot be used on these accounts. Read More »

Is there any point to continuing to dispute an issue with the credit bureaus once they verify it? There are errors on my report that were verified, should I give up?

A lot of people managing their own credit repair give up when they get a verification letter from the credit bureaus. A verification letter from one of the credit bureaus should not be perceived as the end of the road. Read More »

I have three store cards, and I have been making my payments on time but I am not seeing improvement in my credit scores, can you tell me why?

Credit repair involves a fair amount of attention to detail, some of which seems counter-intuitive at first glance. Credit cards can make an enormous positive difference in your credit scores, but not all credit cards are treated in the same way by the credit bureaus. Read More »

My credit repair has been doing well, but I made a late payment and my scores really fell, is there anything that I can do?

A late payment, as you have discovered, can really put a dent in your credit repair progress. The good news is that the FICO scoring model is especially forgiving of isolated derogatory events. Read More »

What is the single biggest credit mistake that I should avoid?

Late payments are definitely a contender for the most damaging credit repair error, and they can send your score down a quick hundred points or more in the first month or two they appear on your credit report. Read More »

I’m a little afraid of opening credit cards. Can credit repair work if I don’t open new credit cards?

I understand your reluctance to open new credit cards. Many people starting credit repair programs have experienced problems with credit cards in the past and are hesitant to tempt fate again, or their own self-discipline. Read More »

Credit Repair Mistakes

The good news is that credit is very forgiving. Take the right steps with your credit repair effort and the blunders of the past can be overcome in a reasonable timeframe. Whatever errors you have made will quickly become history and your scores will head right back up.

Effective credit repair requires a bit of finesse. There was a time when it was enough if you made your payments on time. Those days are long over. The world of credit now revolves around the FICO credit scoring formula which takes so many variables into consideration that it is easy to take a wrong turn unless you have a road map.

The most thoughtful and intelligent people have come to our credit repair program perplexed by their inability to get their credit scores to improve. In many cases they have done everything right except one thing. That missing ingredient can be one of many critical, but often overlooked, factors, each of which is essential to win the credit game.

Credit repair success involves on-time payments, an ideal balance of account types, the avoidance of certain potentially damaging types of debt, and proper balance management. In addition, once the credit repair process is underway there are ways to manage the dispute process that can make the difference between success and failure.

The questions in this section reflect some of the more common credit repair errors people make, as well as some of the more subtle issues our clients have met and surmounted along the path to great credit. We hope you will benefit from this foray into the world of credit repair mistakes.

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